Tensioning tool



W. C. CHILDRESS TENSIONING TOOL Dec. 16, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Dec. 22, 1948 1952 w. c. CHILDRESS TENSIONING TOOL 2 SHEETSSHEETI 2 Filed Dec. 22, 1948 Patented Dec. 16, 1952 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE TEN SIGN IN G TOOL Application December 22, 1948, Serial N 66,779

9 Claims.

My invention relates to tensioning tools.

More particularly it relates to a tool for tightening and putting under tension loops of metallic strapping with which packages are encircled and bound to secure and reinforce them.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a package binder-strap tensioning tool which is more convenient to apply, operate and remove, and of greater range than prior tools.

Another object is to provide a tool of the so called feed wheel type with which desirably high tensions may be obtained without the strap weakening and mutilation heretofore experienced with tools of this variety.

Another object is to provide a feed Wheel type tensioning tool of high efficiency in the translation of operator effort into strap tension.

A further object is to provide a tool in which the tensioning operation tends to keep the overlapping ends of the package looping strap in proper alignment for the easy production of effective joints therebetween.

Another object is to provide a tool which is simple, rugged, of light weight for the tensions obtainable, and reliable.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

An embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. *1 is an elevation of what may properly be termed the face of the tool, since it is the side of application to the binder;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposite or rear face with some of the normally concealed mechanism shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a forward end elevation;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line l4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

In general the tool comprises a main frame A which rests upon the package being bound, and a tension mechanism frame B which is pivoted to the main frame and carries all of the moving tension mechanism including the operato: actuated tensioning handle C.

The main frame A is, for the sake of rigidity, simplicity and lightness, made as a single onepiece casting. It includes a front foot Iii, which is substantially L-shaped in plan, and a rear foot 5!. The two feet are joined by a web I2 and a finger grip E3. The space or gap between web 52 and finger grip i3 is to accommodate the fingers of the hand of the operator when the tool is being carried or, as will be later explained, when the tool is being applied to or removed from the work. Front foot I0 is provided with a serrated strap anchor M, which, for easy adjustment, may be in the form of a screw threading through a tapped hole in the foot. When the tool is in use during a binding operation, the two feet and the interconnecting web I2 rest against a face of the package D being bound. A flange l 5 projects upwardly or outwardly from the back of the foot Ill and to attain additional strength and rigidity joins and, in effect, merges into web l2 and finger grip I3 as most clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. The upper end of flange I5 is enlarged into a partially cylindrical boss l6, and the rigidity of flange I 5 with respect to the main frame as a whole is increased by a curved rib IL The tension mechanism frame B is in part in. the form of a hood 25 provided with a pair of parallel wings or ears 2% (probably most clearly indicated in Fig. 3) for receiving a pivot pin 21 by means of which the main frame and tension mechanism frame are pivotally connected or attached to each other. To provide a better bearing between boss [6 and pivot pin 2'! and a convenient seat for a coiled biasing spring 28, the function of which will be presently explained, a bushing 29 may be inserted in the pivot bore of boss l5 and anchored therein by a set screw 30, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Hood 25 carries a rotatable shaft which at the forward end is journaled in roller bearings 36, the cage of which is clamped rigidly in place. by a clamping screw 31. Intermediate its ends, shaft 35 is also journaled for rotation in the rear wall 38 of hood 25. Within hood 25, shaft 35 carries for rotation therewith a strap-feed wheel 39 and outside the hood shaft 35 carries, also for rotation therewith, a ratchet wheel 40. Insursince that both the feed and ratchet wheels will rotate with shaft 35 may be had by making the shaft noncylindrical (e. g., square or hexagonal as shown in Figs. 4 and 5) where it fits those wheels, and shaping the holes through the wheels to conform. Shaft 35 also has rotatably mounted thereon the tensioning handle 0. The forward end of handle 0 is bifurcated to form the two flat parallel handle-bearing blades and 46 which are spaced apart to lie on opposite sides of the ratchet wheel 40, blade 45 between the ratchet wheel and rear wall 38 of hood 25, blade 35 against the outer face of the ratchet wheel, all as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. An end plate 41, which stands upright at the outer end of a horizontal extension 543 of hood 25; provides a rear, and third, bearing for shaft 35 and 3 serves also as a retainer to maintain the tensioning handle and ratchet wheel in place on that shaft.

An actuating pawl 58 lies in the space between blades 45 and 46 of the tensioning handle and is pivotally attached to the handle by a pivot pin 5|. Actuating pawl 50 has a tooth 52 at its inner end for engaging the teeth of ratchet wheel 40 and an extension 53 on the other side of its pivot. This extension projects outwardly beyond the top surface of handle C, as shown most clearly in Figs. 1, 2, a and 5, so as to be readily pushed forwardly by the thumb of the operators hand when the fingers are about the finger grip l3 and the palm is against the top of the tensioning handle. A coiled spring 54 biases pawl 59 to cause its tooth to engage the teeth of ratchet wheel to but that normal engagement may be broken by pushing forward on pawl extension 53. Ratchet wheel 40 is retained by a pair of holding pawls 55 and 56 against rotation reversely to that imparted to it by actuating pawl 55. Pawls 55 and 55 are journaled on a shaft 5! which extends between inner wall 38 and end plate 41 of hood 25 and each is biased by a coiled spring 58 toward engagement with ratchet wheel 45. Holding pawl 55 is longer than holding pawl 55 by half the pitch of the teeth of ratchet wheel 43, with the result that when the wheel is rotated in a clockwise direction, which is the direction for binder tensioning, shorter pawl 56 moves into holding position behind each tooth prior to the time longer pawl 55 moves into holding position behind the same tooth, the delay being the are equivalent to half the tooth pitch. This arrangement makes for tighter binding because, upon retraction of the tensioning handle between tensioning strokes, the ratchet wheel and consequently the feed wheel can reverse no more than half the pitch of the ratchet wheel teeth. Tensioning handle blade 45 is provided with a curved projection 55 and handle blade 45 is provided with a similar curved projection 55.

These projections engage pawls 55 and 56, re-

spectively, when the operating handle is in rest position, the full line position in the drawings, to retract the holding pawls out of engagement with ratchet wheel 40, as most clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

The circumferential face of feed wheel 39 is serrated to enable it better to grip and move the upper of the overlapping loop ends of the package encircling binder. These serrations are in the form of short, closely set, straight teeth 6'! which, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3, lie parallel to each other and extend diagonally entirely across the circumferential face of the wheel. The diagonal direction is such that, when the feed wheel is rotated in a clockwise or tensioning direction, the outer edge of the upper strap is first engaged by a tooth and by the outer end of that tooth. Thereafter, as rotation proceeds, each tooth engages the upper strap progressively in a direction both across and longitudinally of the strap. And, by making the tooth pitch small, the diagonal arrangement enables several teeth to be in contact with and acting upon the upper strap simultaneously. For example, as many as seven teeth of the feed wheel may be in simultaneous contact with the top surface of the upper strap loop end. Thus shorter, smaller teeth can be effectively used, and effort and scarring of the strap surface is lessened and a smooth rolling action of the feed wheel on the strap is produced. The diagonal arrangement of the feed wheel teeth exerts not only the longitudinally forward tensioning movement to the upper strap but also a lateraly inward thrust which tends to keep the loop ends back into the tool against a pair of forward gage pins 'I0'H which may be adjustably set in holes in the main frame. If desired, a similar gage pin 12 may be set in a hole in the main frame just above the rear foot ll. Proper placement of the tool relative to the overlapping strap loop ends may be aided by providing the forward end of the main frame with ledge 13 slightly overhanging the foot H] and the rear end of the main frame with a ledge '14 similarly overhanging the rear foot I l.

The tensioning handle is so curved that in normal position, as shown by the full lines of Figs. 1 and 2, it lies substantially parallel to the finger grip of the main frame with its under or inner edge resting on a curved camming surface 15 at the upper forward corner of the finger grip. In this condition the lower side of the finger grip and the upper edge of the tensioning handle are separated a distance which enables the right hand of the operator to grasp and hold the tool with the fingers embracing the finger grip and the palm of the hand engaging the tensioning handle, and easily exert considerable squeezing pressure upon the tensioning handle to rock it upon camming surface 15 to a position such as indicated by the dotdash lines of Figs. 1 and 2. This rocking movement rotates the entire tension mechansim frame and all of the tensioning mechanism carried thereby in a clockwise direction against the bias of spring 28 to move the feed wheel away from forward main frame l0 and, in effect, open the tool for the insertion therein of the overlapping ends of the package encircling loop to be ten sioned. Subsequent release of this squeezing pressure permits biasing spring 28 again to rotate the tension mechanism frame in a counterclockwise direction to move the feed wheel back toward foot In to clamp loop strap ends that may be interposed therebetween.

Summary of operation Briefly summarized, the operation of the tool is as follows:

The operator encircles the package to be bound with a loop S of flexible steel binder strap taken from any suitable source, such as a reel. With the package looped by the strap the operator, with his left hand, holds the two ends S and S" in overlapping relation. Then, with his right hand holding the tool and sufdcient squeezing pressure being exerted between fingers embracing finger grip l3 and palm engaging the top edge of tensioning handle C to rock the tension mechanism frame B clockwise (as viewed in Fig. 1) about its pivotal connection 21 with the main frame to raise the feed wheel and, in effect, open the tool, he applies the tool laterally to the binder loop. The overlapping loop ends S and S are positioned between the feed wheel 39 and the clutch or anchor plug in foot l9 and pushed back into the tool against gage pins la-H. The loop may be trained either over the top of or below rear foot H as binding conditions may seem to warrant. When tool and loop strap ends are thus related, the operator releases the squeezing pressure upon tensioning handle C, whereupon biasing spring 28 rotates th tension mechanism frame B counterclockwise (as viewed in Fig. 1) to cause the. feed. wheel to engage the upper strap end S" and force the lower strap end against the foot anchor plug 14 or, in effect, close the tool for the tensioning operation.

Now the operator takes up the slack in the package encircling loop and tensions the loop tightly about the package by oscillating tensioning handle C through an are roughly defined by the positions indicated by the full and dotted lines. As viewed in Fig. 1, each counterclockwise or forward stroke of tensioning handle C causes ratchet pawl 5%! to ride idly over the teeth of ratchet Wheel reverse rotation of the ratchet wheel being prevented by holding pawls 55 and 55. On the backward or clockwise stroke, however, actuating pawl 53 actively engages a tooth of ratchet wheel 4! and that wheel and also the feed wheel 39 are rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1. This rotation of the feed wheel causes the upper loop end S to be slidably fed relative to the lower loop end S and, since the latter is anchored against movement by the stationary anchoring clutch plug 54 in foot 10, the loop of strap S about the package may be shrunk upon the package with any desired tension. And during the tensioning operation the action or" the diagonal y disposed teeth of the feed wheel tends to force the strap ends back against gag pins 'iilli and retain them in the tool and in proper superposed relation. This feature is important be cause, after tensioning, the ends of the strap loop ends are permanently joined usually with the aid 01 some sort of a seal or sleeve and the production of the most effective joints will b prevented if the strap are not properly juxtaposed or aligned.

When the desired tension in this package encircling loop has been attained, the loop is made permanent by suitably joining its superposed ends in front of the tool. The tool may now be removed.

In removing the tool the operator first pushes forwardly on the projection of actuating pawl 55 is disengage its tooth 52 from the teeth or" ratchet wheel it. If, in the final tensioning stroke, the tensioning handle C was not brought back into engagement with the camming sur-- face '15 on the main frame, it may now be brought back to this position, i. e., th full line position of Figs. 1 2. But, whether the final tensioning stroke left top nning handle C in this normal position or it was brought back to that position after release of the actuating pawl as just described, the engagement of cam projections 65 so on the forward ends of handle blades 55 and st with holding pawls 5-5 and 55 moves those pawls out of operativ relation to ratchet wheel do. Consequently the release of the ratchet wheel from the actuating pawl can free the ratchet Wheel with it the feed wheel for reverse rotation. This too a feature oi importance because usually when the tool is to be removed th binder loop is under considerable tension and the teeth of the feed wheel have cut to some extent into the top surface of the upper the binder loop ends. The resuit is that the strap loop tension exerts a strong back pull on the feed wheel teeth which, if the feed wheel cannot rotate in reverse direction, not only increases the di nculty of disengaging the feed wheel teeth from the strap but, as disengagement is effected, causes the teeth to tear and mar the surface of the strap and weaken it. This difiiculty is overcome by freeing the feed wheel forrreverse" rotation, as just described, because, when. so released, the tension in the binder loop turns the feed; wheel backward suf. ficiently to relieve its teeth of the tension in the loop and the feed wheel can be freed from the strap very easily and without hazard either to the strap or the teeth.

As soon as the feed wheel has been released from all of the pawls acting thereon; the operator, by squeezing pressure with his right hand, can rock the tensioning handle upon camming surface '55 as a fulcrum to rotate the tension mechanism frame B to separate the feed wheel suiilciently from foot I!) to release the tool from the binder loop and enable the tool to be withdrawn. Following the joinder of the overlapping binder ends, th strap in excess of that required for the tensioned' package loop and joint, if the binders are cut to predetermined length, may be removed in any appropriate manner, as by cutting beyond the joint; or if the loop is taken from an indefinite length, such as a coil, it may be separated from th source in like manner.

With a tool such as herein shown and described, in which the feed wheel is journaled for rotation at the end of a swinging arm rather than through a rotatable. eccentric element as is customary, effective operation over a greater range of strap gage or thickness is possible. This is primarily because the distance between the center of rotation 35 of the feed wheel and the aXis about which the feed wheel pivots established by the pin 21 is exceedingly great as compared with the effective radius of any conceivable eccentric element, and therefore small variations in the position of the feed wheel when it is feeding will not appreciably disturb the angularity as established by the centers of the pins 35 and 2! and therefore will not appreciably change the reaction component in a vertical direction which controls the pressure exerted against the strap by the feed wheel. For example, heretofore it has been necessary, or at least advisable, to readjust the elevation of the stationary clutch plug for each diiference of .005 inch in strap gage. Or, in order to accommodate a strap gage range between .015 and .035 inch, four adjustments of the. clutch plug would be necessary in order to insure satisfactory results. On the other hand a strap gage range of .015 to .035 inch can be accommodated: by my improved tool without any readjustment.

One of the very important advantages of my improved tool lies in the fact that the operator may with his right hand hold and advance it to the work, then, by simply squeezing the handle and finger grip toward. each other, open the gap between the feed wheel and foot anchor for the reception of the overlapping binder ends and next, by simply relieving the squeezing pressure, effect the closing of the tool with the feed wheel engaging the upper strap end and pressing it against the lower strap end and the latter against the foot anchor, thereby making the tool ready for the tensioning operation. Thus, the operators left hand is left free merely to hold the binder loop ends in proper overlapping relation and guide them into place between the feed wheel andv foot anchor. In like manner, at. the end of a binding operation, a squeeze by the operators right hand, togetherwith a push by the thumb against actuating pawl extension. 53,. retracts all of the pawls. from and trees the ratchet wheel, and opens the tool so that it may be removed easily and without danger to the binder.

Other important features of this tool are that a minimum of effort is required of the operator while slack is being removed from the bundle encircling loop of binder and until actual tightening of the loop upon the bundle begins; and also that the grip exerted between the feed wheel and the lower binder loop end anchorage increases as the tension in the bundle encircling loop increases. These results are attained because, when the operator releases the squeeze which opened the tool for the reception of the binder ends, as previously explained, the bias of spring 28 needs be merely sufficient to cause the feed wheel rather lightly to engage the upper loop strap end and thereby rather lightly force the lower loop strap end against the anchoring plug in the tool foot. While merely slack is being removed from the bundle encircling binder loop and no appreciable tension is being exerted, the lower binder loop end can be effectively anchored by the clutch plug, and the upper binder loop end can be effectively slid thereover by the feed wheel with only a slight amount of pressure being applied by the biasing spring; but the relation between the axis of shaft 21, about which the hood 25 oscillates, and the axis of shaft 35 about which the feed wheel rotates (that is, the angle between a perpendicular through the axis of shaft 21 and a line drawn between the axis of shaft 21 and feed wheel shaft 35), is such that when the binder loop has been reduced about the package and further oscillation of tensioning handle C actually begins to impart tension to the bundle encircling loop, the reaction or back pull of the upper strap loop end tends to decrease this angle so that, as the tension increases, the surface of the feed wheel tends more closely to approach the tool foot and, as a consequence, more tightly pinch the two loop strap ends therebetween and cause the teeth of both the anchoring clutch plug and the tensioning feed wheel to bite into the loop strap ends more deeply and augment the ability of the tool to exert tension upon the bundle encircling loop.

If desired, and particularly if rather high loop tensions are desired, improved results may be obtained by sloping the top surface of the anchoring clutch plug downward from the front edge so that its outer edge is initially higher than its rear edge and therefore engages the strap first, as illustrated in Fig. 3. In producing rather high tensions, the tendency is for the forward end of the tool to be so sprung that the shafts 21 and 35 are no longer parallel to forward foot l but diverge slightly from their inner ends relative to the foot. This divergence may be due to some displacement or bending of the flange I or of the feed wheel shaft or of the foot ID or to a combination of such distortions. The effect would be that, if the upper surface of the clutch plug was initially parallel to the peripheral surface of the feed wheel, this divergence would cause the outer edge of the feed wheel to exert less pressure upon the strap ends than does its inner edge. Such an effect might result in an actual stretching of the inner or rear edge of the upper loop strap end relative to its front or outer edge under high tension and cause the upper strap to camber to such an extent that it will no longer properly register with the lower loop end to enable a good joint to be made. However, by sloping the active surface of the clutch plug rearwardly downward as just explained and illustrated (preferably by sloping the 8 threaded hole in the foot into which it is screwed), any springing of the frame to cause the shafts 2'! and 35 to diverge relative to the foot results in the creation of parallelism between the active face of the clutch plug or strapanchoring surface and the outer periphery of the feed wheel, so that instead of the feed wheel decreasing its contact with the upper strap, should severe tension warp or distort the frame, the reverse actually occurs and more of the width of the feed wheel becomes effective with an equalization of pressure throughout the width of the strap and a lessening of the tendency to stretch the rear edge relative to the front edge.

Having thus illustrated and explained the nature and a preferred embodiment of my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A package binder-strap tensioning tool comprising the combination with a main frame having a foot for resting on the package being bound and upon which ends of the package encircling loop of binder strap may lie in overlapping relation, and a finger grip with a camming surface at its forward upper part; of a tension mechanism frame pivotally attached to the main frame and carrying a shaft lying parallel to such pivotal attachment and upon which shaft are mounted for rotation therewith a feed wheel for pressing the upper of the overlapping strap loop ends against the lower and the lower against the foot of the main frame and a ratchet wheel for rotating the shaft, said shaft also journaling a tensioning handle carrying an actuating pawl which actively engages the ratchet wheel when the tensioning handle is rotated upon the shaft in one direction but inactively engages the ratchct wheel when the tensioning handle is moved in the opposite direction, said tensioning handle having a portion lying and oscillatable in the plane of the finger grip so that it may be brought into engagement with the camming surface of the finger grip and then upon further movement rotate the tension mechanism frame about the pivotal connection with the main frame to move the feed wheel away from the foot of the main frame to enable overlapping strap loop ends to be placed therebetween; a holding pawl pivotally carried by the tension mechanism frame and engaging the ratchet wheel to prevent reverse rotation thereof when the tension handle is moving through its inactive stroke; and a spring for biasing the tension mechanism frame to cause the feed wheel normally to approach the foot of the main frame into strap engaging position.

2. A package binder-strap tensioning tool comprising the combination with a main frame having a foot for resting on the package being bound and upon which overlapping ends of the package encircling loop of binder strap may lie, said main frame having a finger grip and a camming surface formed on the finger grip at its forward upper part; of a tension mechanism frame pivotally attached to the main frame, said tension mechanism frame carrying a rotatable feed wheel for pressing the overlapping strap ends against the foot of the main frame and by rotation advancing the upper end relative to the lower end to tension the strap loop about the package, a ratchet wheel for rotating the feed wheel, a pivoted tensioning handle provided with an actuating pawl which actively or inactively engages the ratchet wheel depending upon which direction the tensioning handle is rocked, a

pivoted holding pawl for engaging the ratchet Wheel t prevent reverse rotation thereof when the tensioning handle is rocked through its inactive stroke, said tensioning handle being oscillatable in the plane of the finger grip so that when it is brought into contact with the camming surface of the finger grip and then further squeezed thereagainst it rotates the tensioning mechanism frame to move the feed wheel away from the foot of the main frame to open the tool for reception of the overlapping strap ends, and said tensioning handle having a projection lying in the plane of the holding pawl for engaging the holding pawl to move it out of engagement with the ratchet wheel by the time the handle strikes the camming surface of the main frame; and a biasing spring interconnecting the main frame and the tension mechanism frame for biasing the latter to carry the feed wheel toward the foot of the main frame to close the tool upon overlapping strap ends lying between the feed Wheel and the foot.

3. A package binder-strap tensioning tool comprising the combination with a main frame having a foot for resting on the package being bound and upon which the ends of package encircling loop of binder strap may lie in overlapping relation, and an elongated finger grip extending rearwardly of the foot parallel to the plane of the binder loop and provided on its forward top edge with a camming surface; of a shaft mounted on the main frame for rocking movement toward and away from the foot of the main frame, said shaft carrying a strap-feed wheel, a ratchet wheel for rotating the feed wheel and a tensioning handle provided with a pawl for rotating the ratchet wheel step-by-step in strap tensioning direction when the handle is oscillated about the shaft, a holding pawl for preventing reverse rotation of the ratchet and feed wheels, said handle lying in the same plane as the finger grip so that it may be brought down against the camming surface of the finger grip on the main frame and then further squeezed toward the finger grip to rock said shaft relative to the foot of the main frame to separate the feed wheel therefrom.

4. A package binder-strap tensioning tool of the type having a main frame provided with a foot for resting on the package being bound with a loop of flexible metallic strap, a rotatable strap feed wheel mounted for bodily movement toward and away from the main frame foot respectively to grip and to release the loop strap ends, a ratchet wheel movable and rotatable with the feed wheel for rotating it, and a tensioning handle operatively connected to the ratchet and feed wheels bodily to move them and provided with an actuating pawl for actively and inactively engaging the ratchet wheel to rotate both wheels step-by-step in one direction when the tensioning handle is oscillated, characterized by the fact that the main frame is provided with a finger grip and a camming surface and the tensioning handle operates in the plane of the finger grip and camming surface so that the handle and camming surface may be brought into engagement and squeezed together to cause the handle to rock on the camming surface and bodily move the feed wheel away from the main frame foot.

5. A package binder-strap tensioning tool according to claim 4, further characterized by the fact that the ratchet wheel is engaged by a pivoted holding pawl to prevent reverse rotation and the tensioning handle is provided with a projection which when the handle is against said camming surface engages the holding pawl to keep it out of engagement with the ratchet wheel.

6. A package binder-strap tensioning tool according to claim 4, further characterized by the fact that the circumferential surface of the feed wheel is provided with teeth disposed diagonally thereacross, the diagonal direction being such that during operative rotation of the wheel the end of each tooth adjacent the outer edge of the wheel is in advance of the end of the tooth adjacent the inner edge of the wheel.

7. A package binder-strap tensioning tool of the type having a main frame provided with a foot for resting on the package being bound with a loop of flexible metallic strap, a rotatable strap feed wheel mounted for bodily movement toward and away from the main frame foot respectively to grip and to release the loop strap ends, a ratchet wheel movable and rotatable with the feed wheel for rotating it, and a tensioning handle operatively connected to the ratchet and feed wheels bodily to move them and provided with an actuating pawl for actively and inactively engaging the ratchet wheel to rotate both wheels step-by-step in one direction when the tensioning handle is oscillated, characterized by the fact that the main frame is provided with a finger grip and a camming surface and the tensioning handle operates in the plane of the finger grip and camming surface so that the handle and camming surface may be brought into engagement and squeezed together to cause the handle to rock on the camming surface and bodily move the feed wheel away from the main frame foot, and a spring biasing the feed and ratchet wheels and tensioning handle to normal position with the feed wheel moved bodily toward the main frame foot.

8. A package binder-strap tensioning tool according to claim 7, further characterized by the fact that the bodily movement of the feed wheel is provided by rotatably mounting the feed wheel upon a lever which is pivoted to the main frame and directed toward the foot thereof at an angle such that the feed wheel approaches the foot as strap tension increases to increase the pressure of the feed wheel upon the strap.

9. A package binder-strap tensioning tool according to claim 3 further characterized by the fact that the foot is provided with a roughened strap-anchoring surface which slopes downwardly from its front edge toward its rear edge to compensate for displacement of the feed wheel relative to the foot under increased pressure existing between the feed wheel and the foot.

WILLIAM C. CHILDRESS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,600,833 McChesney Sept. 21, 1926 2,187,298 Bletso Jan. 16, 1940 2,229,522 Porter Jan. 21, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 597,789 Germany June 4, 1934 

